How to bare your back at any age? Treat it like your front! Check our guide to the best – and worst – of the rear-flesh flashers

When Queen Letizia of Spain stepped out in a backless dress last week, heads swivelled.

Here was a woman who understood that in order to make a true fashion statement, it is not legs or cleavage that do the job, it’s an expanse of bare back. I have always been a fan of backless dressing. As someone who had a 28E bust for most of my life — now a solid 32E — cleavage-revealing outfits were never an option.

As for short dresses that relied on an expanse of leg, thanks to my runner’s calves they were never my thing either. But I did want to look sexy every now and then. The answer? A glimpse of back.

I stumbled upon the back-reveal in 2005 when Hilary Swank wore a backless navy-blue Guy Laroche dress to the Oscars, where she won Best Actress for Million Dollar Baby. From the front it was as modest as red-carpet dressing gets, a floor-grazing, high-necked, long-sleeved gown.

It was only when she turned to walk away that onlookers gasped and gawped. Why? Because it revealed acres of bare, braless back. It felt weirdly transgressive but, above all, deeply sexy. Who wanted to have eyes lingering on you as you enter a room? Far more seductive to have them follow you as you leave.

Suddenly, here was something I could do. I found an old Byblos dress in a charity shop, scarlet-red with a polo neck, long sleeves and a plunging back. It felt elegant and alluring, and I wore it to every party for three years in a row. But it can be tricky to get right — particularly past a certain age.

Because while it can be tempting to throw on a gaping backless dress without a second thought, we would all benefit from stopping to think first. After all, you’d never just put on a dress without thinking exactly how it will look on your front.

Many of the same rules that you’d factor in when dressing your breasts apply to your back: how low is too low? Am I covering my problem areas? And would all this skin be helped by a few  embellishments?

My wedding dress is a perfect example of front-to-back dressing, specifically designed with a small, peephole back. When my husband-to-be went to kiss me, his hand fell on naked skin just above the small of my back. It looked and felt sensual, yet occasion-appropriate.

And just last night I had to attend a party in New York’s East Village, for which I chose a silk top tied with a huge bow around my throat, but with buttons that snaked all the way up my back. I undid three buttons so that only a centimetre or two of the bottom of my back was visible. I’m 43 now and sometimes, as with your cleavage, a glimpse can be sexier than baring all.

Indeed, don’t forget that what suited you in your 20s might not still be your friend in your 50s.

So here are a few rules that are just as applicable to your back as your front. Follow these and you can’t go far wrong . . .

Frame one sweet spot

Frame one sweet spot: Naomi Watts, 54, wears a silver sequinned dress, with side slits and a dipped back (pictured left). Cate Blanchett, 53, wears a pleated yellow Mary Katrantzou dress 

Have you ever looked carefully at your back in a changing room? Do you understand its strengths and weaknesses? If not, get someone to take a picture of it and examine it.

You’ll already know if a deep V, scoop or halterneck suits your breasts best. Figure out if the small of your back is the thing to show off, or if perhaps your mid-back would be better, and then go for clothes that frame it accordingly.

Take Cate Blanchett, 53. Her pleated yellow Mary Katrantzou dress at the Golden Globes had a high V-shape with wide sleeves that show her upper back while cleverly hiding her shoulder blades, the sides of her lower back and upper arms — all potential problem areas when you’re no longer as firm of flesh as you once were.

Keeping things simple and playing to your strengths always works best. Ignore this and you can ruin the quiet elegance of a back reveal.

Naomi Watts’ silver sequinned dress features side slits, a dipped back and a peephole over the bottom of her back. In showing all these areas, the 54-year-old has over-complicated what should be a subtle look and inadvertently drawn attention to her weaker points.

Choose legs or back

Heidi Klum’s dress could have been subtle and sexy were it not for the mini-length of her skirt (left). By contrast, The Crown star Vanessa Kirby, 34, (right) looks utterly elegant in her floor-length red Valentino gown — the expanse of bare back perfectly offset by the waterfall of fabric

In the same way that displaying your cleavage and legs at the same time is frowned upon, don’t reveal acres of leg if you’re also displaying your back.

Ignore this rule and you risk a look that veers from graceful to gauche. And if nothing else, with lots of leg on show, the eye inevitably gets drawn downwards, resulting in the back playing the second fiddle when it should be the centrepiece of your outfit. Heidi Klum’s dress could have been subtle and sexy were it not for the mini-length of her skirt, not to mention the further cut-outs over the rear. The 49-year-old boasts an enviable back and legs, but this combination is overkill.

By contrast, The Crown star Vanessa Kirby, 34, looks utterly elegant in her floor-length red Valentino gown — the expanse of bare back perfectly offset by the waterfall of fabric.

Look out for side gaps

By placing it around your sides and lower back, you will avoid flashing your side boob like Eva Herzigova, 49, (left) did at the Cannes Film Festival last year. A few handily placed straps, as seen on 33-year-old Lily James’s red Alaia dress (right), will also prevent any awkward gapping

When it comes to backless dresses, we need to put considerable thought into what bra we will — or won’t — wear.

But be warned; it is not enough just to make sure you are secure at the front.

Opting for a loose fit around the back, or a light, fluid material such as silk, might mean that you reveal more than you bargained for.

This is where helpful tools such as a generous helping of breast tape — double-sided tape to keep your dress exactly where you want it — can come in handy, especially for celebrities on the red carpet.

By placing it around your sides and lower back, you will avoid flashing your side boob like Eva Herzigova, 49, did at the Cannes Film Festival last year. A few handily placed straps, as seen on 33-year-old Lily James’s red Alaia dress, will also prevent any awkward gapping. 

A glimpse can be sexier

Margot Robbie, 32, gave just a hint of mid-back between the extended lace collar (right). Meanwhile, socialite Victoria Hervey, 46, (left) ventures into dangerously low territory by revealing her back and tailbone in this barely-there dress at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

We all know that a hint of cleavage can be more sensual than having your entire embonpoint on show.

In the same way, the back reveal should be a quiet, suggestive look.

Margot Robbie, 32, gave just a hint of mid-back between the extended lace collar and full skirt of her Chanel dress at the 2020 Baftas, creating a look that oozes elegance. Meanwhile, socialite Victoria Hervey, 46, ventures into dangerously low territory by revealing her back and tailbone in this barely-there dress at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Revealing your spine? Good. Exposing your coccyx?

Not so good.

That said, I’m not in favour of covering up too much.  

And if you are going to go backless, hair up is always the best option.

Make jewels your friend

A gaping dress without jewellery feels somehow unfinished, as with 43-year-old Rosamund Pike’s red tulle Dior dress at last year’s Cannes Film Festival (left). You can also incorporate jewels into the dress itself, as with 35-year-old Rosie Huntington-Whiteley’s cream Khaite dress (right)

As the late Vogue editor Diana Vreeland once said: ‘The eye has to travel.’

It’s the reason why a necklace is often the perfect complement to an exposed cleavage — and the same applies to your back.

It’s such a large area that you want to create interest for the eye to focus on. This is vital when the material of your dress provides little in the way of framework.

A gaping dress without jewellery feels somehow unfinished, as with 43-year-old Rosamund Pike’s red tulle Dior dress at last year’s Cannes Film Festival, which was sideless as well as backless. Try wearing a long necklace back to front so it trails down your back. Or, better still, a collection of long necklaces to create a beautiful waterfall effect.

You can also incorporate jewels into the dress itself, as with 35-year-old Rosie Huntington-Whiteley’s cream Khaite dress, which she wore at a bash in London’s Covent Garden last month and which featured three horizontal diamante straps.

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